Paul McCarthy is a contemporary artist, born on 4th August 1945 in Salt Lake City, Utah USA, and is probably best known for work in sculpture and the performance arts including “Sailor’s Meat”(1975), “Bossy Burger”(1991) and “Tree”(2014).
Have you ever wondered how rich Paul McCarthy is? According to sources, it has been estimated that McCarthy’s overall net worth is $5 million, as of July 2017. McCarthy acquired his wealth through a flourishing career as a contemporary artist, which he started in the late ‘60s. Paul managed to place his pieces of arts among the most popular and appreciated, which significantly influenced his popularity and net worth.
Paul McCarthy Net Worth $5 Million
Paul studied painting at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah and the University of Utah, later transferring to the San Francisco Art Institute from where he graduated with a BFA degree. This wasn’t the end of McCarthy’s academic studies as he went on to study art, film and video at the University of Southern California, receiving an MFA degree. He worked as a performance, video and art history teacher at the University of California from 1982 to 2002. Although he was originally schooled as a painter, Paul’s main interest had always been in everyday activities and the mess they make. Therefore, his works include several artistic aspects combined such as film, installation, performance and painting. Through his art, McCarthy expresses criticism of the mass media and consumer-driven population, typical for American society. He also displays the hypocrisy, repression and double standards which are seen in everyday life. Paul claims it was the European avant-garde art which influenced him the most, including Lost Art Movement, Sigmund Freud, Samuel Beckett and Viennese Actionism.
His earliest works display McCarthy’s tendency to break the limitations of painting by replacing the paintbrush with the body or even canvas, later even incorporating food or bodily fluids as substitutes. At one point, his art evolved from painting to transgressive performance art, which had the aim of testing emotional limits of both the viewer and the artist. However, his later work predominantly tries to break the myth of “artistic greatness” and the perception of an heroic male artist. Some of his notable video projects include his video installation of the classic novel “Heidi”, called “Heidi: Midlife Crisis Trauma Center and Negative Media-Engram Abreaction Release Zone”. Unfortunately, his extravagant artistic performance has sometimes led to incidents such as in 2008 when his inflatable piece of art was installed in Bern, Switzerland but took off due to the wind, and caused a power line break down, greenhouse window breakage and other damage.
A year later he held an exhibition in New York which featured his mixed-media works centered on the Snow White character. Some of his most notable works overall include “Mountain Bowling”(1969), “Sailor’s Meat”(1975), “Class Fool”(1976), “The Garden”(1991) and many others.
When it comes to his more recent activity, McCarthy unveiled his 24-metre tall inflatable installation in Place Vendome, Paris called “Tree”, in October 2014. The sculpture was deflated only a few days later as it caused controversy among the people, who claimed their square had been ruined by a butt plug-resembling work. Later, in an interview to “Le Monde”, Paul admitted it was a deliberate joke and did not want it to be repaired.
As much as his artistic career has been public and controversial, very little is familiar about Paul’s private life, but his son Damon has collaborated with him on several projects. McCarthy resides in Los Angeles, California.
